This series of works is the result of a residency in Flores, Indonesia, during which research of local textile culture and the discovery of a prehistoric female human skeleton was further explored. The series critically examines from the female perspective the narrative history of humankind, how history is written, and how knowledge is produced and has evolved. 

Cabinets of curiosities played a prominent role in the development of early Western modern sciences. A culmination of art, science and mythology, they represent a way to create knowledge and to understand the world. Historically, however, women have been marginalized and excluded from scientific knowledge production and relegated to secondary roles like translators and copyists. Borrowing the concept of these cabinets, Hakim displays an array of curiosities made with techniques closely associated with women, presented in tandem with her sewn female version of the March of Progress, deftly inviting us to reimagine storytelling centered on the female experience. The work also points to an irony: objects made with textile are mimicking real objects – is this once again reinforcing the secondary nature of female-centric techniques and knowledge? Is using traditional textile culture to subvert and produce scientific knowledge luring us into another trap?

Commisioned by Centre for Art, Heritage and Textiles (CHAT) and Sharjah Art Foundation.

Caption written by CHAT